The Udon Prisoner Quarry in Wano—
It also served as a weapons factory.
With a flutter of wings, a white dove landed on top of a building with several towering chimneys.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa—this isn't just an emissions problem anymore."
The dove turned to look at the thick smoke rolling into the sky.
Forget the prisoners—did the guards not care about their own health?
"Hey, throw this poisoned fish into that locked cell!"
A guard tossed a poisoned fish into a prison cell, only for a fishbone to come flying out and take him down in an instant.
The dove rubbed its chin with a wing.
"Well, I guess for high-level fighters, even poison is just another snack. A little air pollution probably doesn't bother them either—?"
"Get lost!"
"Move, or I'll crush you!!"
A massive square boulder came hurtling through the air, slamming onto a transport ship with a loud crash.
The ship, already stacked high, almost capsized in the canal, leaving the nearby guards in a cold sweat.
"Wait, wait, we can't fit any more—"
"Idiot! Then go get the next transport ship over here!"
"Y-yes, sir…"
Well then…
Watching as a one-armed Kid shouted at the guards like they were his servants, the white dove tilted its head.
Meeting the red-haired pirate's gaze, the dove spread its wings and flew elsewhere.
"Yo."
When Kid returned to his cell and started eating, the white dove landed on his shoulder and spoke.
"Isn't this Captain Eustass Kid—"
"Haven't seen you in a few days, and you're already looking rough?"
!? "Who the hell are you?"
Hearing Kid lower his voice, the white dove shrugged.
"Straw Hat Crew's strategist, 'The White Knight.' Weren't you supposed to be competing with our captain to become Pirate King? So how'd you end up here hauling rocks instead?"
!!!! "If you came here just to piss me off—congratulations, you did it!"
Gritting his teeth, Kid shoved a rice ball into his mouth. Even with the sea prism stone cuffs suppressing most of his strength, he was still thriving in this quarry, where moving five giant stones earned you a single rice ball.
To put things into perspective, it took six regular prisoners working together for over half an hour to move just one of these ten-ton boulders. Meanwhile, Kid carried them one-handed like it was nothing. No wonder they called him the "Brick King"…
"Enough already!"
"Brick King this, Brick King that—why don't you go try facing Kaido's club instead?"
"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but Kaido is our captain's prey. And besides, he's already taken a hit from Kaido's 'Thunder Bagua' and said it was great for muscle relaxation."
"You guys ran into Kaido?!"
Kid knew Kaido's strength all too well. After all, it only took a few blows from the guy to leave him half-dead and tossed into this prison to break rocks.
But the fact that the Straw Hats had encountered Kaido and still managed to escape… If they hadn't all made it out alive, that pigeon on his shoulder wouldn't be speaking so casually.
"My captain didn't just run into Kaido—he fought him. And since it would be rude not to return the favor, we're planning to gather our forces and settle the score tonight. Captain Kid, interested in joining in?"
"..."
Kid put down his food, frowning. Just then, a coughing sound from behind made him turn around in irritation.
"Old man, you alright?"
The one coughing was a frail old man with blue flame-like hair, matching eyebrows, and a beard. His back and shoulders were covered in large blue floral tattoos, hinting that he hadn't exactly been a law-abiding citizen in his younger days.
But now, he was just another prisoner hanging onto life.
"Old man's getting up there in years. Only managed to move five rocks today… Got a single rice ball for it."
Seeing the old man in this state, the other prisoners fell silent.
This was their future if they kept resisting Kaido and Orochi.
"It's fine," the old man muttered.
Patting his chest, he gave a bitter smile.
"I don't care when this old body gives out. It's just…"
What a disgrace.
Once the most feared yakuza boss in Wano—Hyogoro the Flower—now reduced to starving in a cage.
"Here, eat."
A large plate of rice balls was shoved in front of the old man.
With his back still turned, Kid waved a hand dismissively.
"Don't go thanking me, or I'll kick them straight into the gutter."
…
The old man gave Kid a long look before lowering his head and grabbing a rice ball.
Chew, chew.
"Hah, didn't think you had it in you to do a good deed."
"Tch, don't make me sick, White Knight."
Kid rolled his shoulder, a wicked grin on his face.
"You glanced at that old man twice, but you didn't spare a second for anyone else. That geezer must be special, huh? I just took the chance to do a little favor. Besides—"
"Hey!! What are you mumbling about?!"
A few guards carrying swords stormed over, eyes locked onto Kid.
They had noticed him talking to himself… and the pigeon on his shoulder.
"That thing—did you train it to carry messages?"
Wano did have a carrier pigeon system for sending letters.
Was this guy trying to communicate with the outside world?
"I'm making a move."
?
Kid stretched out his right hand.
In an instant, he grabbed one of the guards by the throat and, before the other could react—
*BAM!*
Using the first guard like a hammer, he slammed him straight into the second guard's temple.
Both collapsed without a sound.
"Eating too much slows you down," Kid muttered coldly, scanning the area.
"Alright, how do I get these damn sea prism cuffs off?"
Now this was an interesting guy.
*Whoosh!*
The pigeon expanded, transforming into Roman, who now stood in front of Kid—immediately drawing the attention of both prisoners and guards alike.
"Who goes there?!"
"Is it a Devil Fruit user?"
"Are they here to break someone out...?"
"Hahaha, what a joke! This place is a Sea Prism Stone production site!"
Wano is the main source of Sea Prism Stone. The craftsmen here can shape it, even though it's harder than diamonds. They can even adjust its concentration to create different types of cuffs that specifically weaken Devil Fruit users.
Of course, for Devil Fruit users, it also makes excellent training gear.
A long time ago, Roman had made wristbands out of Sea Prism Stone fragments—courtesy of Crocodile—to help the Straw Hat Crew train. But now...
"Too slow."
As guards charged at him from all directions, armed with weapons infused with Sea Prism Stone, Roman felt like yawning.
"I mean—"
The charging guards suddenly blinked in confusion. Behind them, a voice spoke, making them whirl around in shock.
A man in a spotless suit, wearing half a mask, stood there casually. In his hand, he held a clean, gleaming longsword, which he lazily flicked to the side.
"Are you guys even moving?"
!
"When did he—?"
"He's so fast, I couldn't see a thing..."
As the guards turned, their faces dripping with sweat, Roman absentmindedly touched his chin.
"Right, this is the part where I'm supposed to say—"
"Look, the corpse is talking."
?!
"Don't listen to his—nonsense—!"
One of the higher-ranking guards tried to shout and rally the others, but as thin red lines appeared across his face, his words froze mid-sentence.
Then—
*Splat! Splat! Splat! Splat!*
In a series of wet, sickening sounds, chunks of flesh and blood scattered across the ground. Roman stood completely still, untouched by even a single drop of blood.
"Anyone else?"
His voice was calm, but the gruesome scene on the floor made it clear he wasn't joking. Especially when—
"T-this look... that mask..."
A tall, green-haired woman in a short skirt took a huge step back in fear. She wore a pink helmet with sharp horns and goggles, and behind her, a monkey tail twitched nervously. She had six arms, four of which clutched swords.
"He's... he's from the Straw Hat Crew... the strategist... 'The White Knight' Neo!"
Before the other guards could even react, she added, trembling,
"A pirate with a 1 billion bounty!!"
?!
"RUN FOR IT—!"
For a brief second, silence filled the air. Then, the Beasts Pirates' guards scattered in a panic!
A 1 billion bounty... Do they even understand what that means?
Their direct superior, "Plague" Queen, had a bounty of 1.32 billion berries. And Jack the Drought... his bounty was exactly 1 billion!
That meant this man in the white suit and mask was on Jack's level—one of the strongest fighters alive!
If they didn't run now, they'd be sliced into sashimi!
"Damn it, don't think we're scared of you—!"
Despite the tough talk, the tall, burly man with a thick beard and an elephant head tattooed on his chest was sweating bullets.
As the head warden of the quarry, he had a bounty of over 200 million. But compared to 1 billion...
"Warden Babanuki, what should we do?"
The question came from Solitia, the six-armed deputy warden with a monkey tail, who had eaten a SMILE fruit.
Alongside her were two other deputy wardens: Daifugo, with six limbs and scorpion-like hair from his scorpion SMILE fruit, and Dobon, a bizarre man who sat inside the mouth of a giant hippo, wielding two short swords.
All three looked at Babanuki, waiting for a decision. He wanted to say, "I have no idea!" but there was no time to hesitate.
"You all go at him together."
On the other side, Roman casually beckoned them forward.
Honestly, these four weren't weak. Their strength was in the 100-200 million range, which was nothing to scoff at.
But—
"Too weak..."
Thirty seconds later, all four lay in pools of their own blood.
They weren't a challenge. Even a weakened Luffy had been able to take them down in a single hit. There was no way Roman would struggle with them.
If it were the Tobiroppo or the Calamities, then maybe they'd put up a fight.
"Hey, when did your bounty hit 1 billion?"
A red-haired, spiky-haired man scowled as he watched Roman approach. Roman just shrugged and answered casually.
"A while back, we crashed BIG MOM's wedding, took her daughter and made her one of us, and even defeated two of her Sweet Commanders. That's when our bounties shot up..."
That strong?!
Kid had only managed to blow up two of BIG MOM's ships before being hunted down like a rat. But the Straw Hat Crew actually stormed BIG MOM's wedding—
Slash.
Just as Kid was still in shock, Roman swung his sword and sliced off what was left of Kid's right hand at the wrist.
"????? I was just helping you get rid of the Seastone cuffs. No need to thank me."
"!!!!!!!"
"You son of—!!"
Kid was about to lose his mind! Losing his left arm to the Red Hair Pirates had already left him with just one, and now his right hand was—?!
Wait... there's no blood?!
"This is... Law's ability?"
"That's right."
As Kid's wrist was severed, the Seastone cuffs clattered to the ground. Roman reached out, and Kid's hand flew back, reattaching itself to his wrist.
"I can't help it. Right now, I'm just a 'creation of my ability.' Seastone still weakens me."
And Roman didn't feel like wasting time looking for a key, so cutting it off and sticking it back on was just easier.
"This... this is..."
Only now did the prisoners in the quarry start to process everything that had just happened.
"Does this mean... we're free?"
"That's right. Congratulations."
Roman spread his arms and looked around at them.
"But you'll soon realize—"
"Freedom comes with a price."
(End of Chapter)
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